Prof. How on the Mineralogy of Nova Scotia. 277 



tively, the largest known previous annual exportation*, I had 

 an excellent opportunity of examining varieties of the rock from 

 many quarries, and I became acquainted with additional locali- 

 ties for its accessory minerals. One place in Newport, about 

 six miles from Windsor, furnished specimens of natroborocalcite 

 of an entirely novel character. Besides the compact hard no- 

 dules formerly noticed % in which structure was scarcely appa- 

 rent to the naked eye, imbedded in solid gypsum, others, of 

 looser texture, were found in small cavities of the same rock 

 made up of tufts of needles pressed close together at the centre 

 and radiating out in divergent needles, while others were formed of 

 crystals separate almosttothe common central point of attachment. 

 Larger cavities exhibited isolated delicate prismatic crystals half 

 an inch long or more ; these were perfectly colourless and trans- 

 parent, and appeared under the microscope to be four-sided 

 (and possibly square) prisms. The only associate was selenite, 

 of which equally colourless and transparent crystals were not 

 unfrequently observed overlying the borate in tufts, and also 

 standing up among its isolated prisms. The specimens of na- 

 troborocalcite now described are not nearly so frequently found 

 as the well-known nodules ; the examination of many hundreds 

 of tons of gypsum did not furnish by any means a large number 

 of good ones ; and they do not appear to be present in any other 

 rock than that from one particular locality in Newport. They 

 have a remarkably close resemblance to some forms of " needle- 

 stone " found in trap, and, when freshly exposed, they are very 

 beautiful in contrast with the old form : they require careful 

 handling for the preservation of their characteristic appearance. 



There are other interesting circumstances connected with re- 

 cent observations of this borate. Apart from the crystals just 

 mentioned, there is a close resemblance in the forms met with 

 at different localities, which are now known to be several within 

 the area of a few square miles. 



In addition to the forms already mentioned, flattened masses 

 are sometimes found, nearly an inch thick and three or four inches 

 across, affording most brilliant surfaces when broken. Still flatter 

 and much smaller masses, mere splashes, as it were, are occa- 

 sionally seen dotted over some two or three square feet of grey 

 translucent selenite ; as this is seen covering with a thin layer 

 whole sides of " stones " of quarried gypsum, these surfaces are 

 probably very considerable in the bed ; these splashes are so 

 thickly strewn as scarcely to leave a square inch of selenite un- 

 covered. The nodules present curious parallelisms in their 



* Mineralogy of Nova Scotia, p. 132. 



t Contributions, III., Phil, Mag. January 1868. 



